Ballpark what your scrap is worth before you hit the scale. We run daily numbers from more than 220+ real scrap yard buy lists—the same pool as our homepage—so your estimate lines up with how sellers actually price loads across the U.S.
Estimate your payout range before you roll onto the scale. Pick grades, enter weight in lb or ton (U.S. short ton = 2,000 lb), and optionally narrow to your state to see what yards in our network are paying.
Use it as a negotiating guide—final dollars depend on how clean and sorted your material is. Yards pay mixed loads at the cheapest grade in the bucket; strip insulation, separate brass from copper, and keep ferrous separate from non-ferrous to max out scrap metal prices.
Local prices by state & city
At the scale house, buyers grade on cleanliness, alloy, and weight. Small mistakes can drop you from bare bright to a lower copper number—or from prepared steel to unprepared.
Our ranges skew retail—think pickup loads and side-hustle sellers. A commercial load is usually much more of one clean grade; the yard saves on labor and sort, so your best per-pound scrap metal prices come from clean, sorted metal at or above the ballpark weight for that commodity. Every yard sets its own threshold—tell them you're bringing a large, straight load of one grade.
| Scrap category / grade | Typical commercial threshold (lb) |
|---|---|
| 500lb | |
| — Aluminum 3003 | 500lb |
| — Aluminum 5052 (Plate) | 500lb |
| — Aluminum 6061 Structural | 500lb |
| — Aluminum 6063 Extrusion (Clean) | 500lb |
| — Aluminum BX | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Cans (UBC) | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Clips & MLC | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Foil & Light Gauge | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Siding & Gutters | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Turnings | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Wire (EC / Clean) | 500lb |
| — Aluminum Wire (Insulated / ACSR) | 500lb |
| — Cast Aluminum | 500lb |
| — Clean Aluminum Sheet | 500lb |
| — Dirty Aluminum Extrusion | 500lb |
| — Irony & Breakage Aluminum | 500lb |
| — Lithographic Plates (Litho) | 500lb |
| — Painted & Old Sheet Aluminum | 500lb |
| — Painted Aluminum Extrusion | 500lb |
| — Thermal Break Aluminum | 500lb |
| 1,000lb | |
| — Chrome Plated Aluminum Wheels | 1,000lb |
| — Clad Aluminum Wheels (Plastic Face) | 1,000lb |
| — Clean Aluminum Auto Wheels (Alloy 356) | 1,000lb |
| — Clean Truck & Semi Wheels (Alloy 6061) | 1,000lb |
| — Dirty & Irony Aluminum Wheels | 1,000lb |
| 500lb | |
| — Automotive Batteries (Car & Truck) | 500lb |
| — Lithium Ion Batteries | 500lb |
| — Scrap Lead Acid Batteries | 500lb |
| — Small Lead Acid Batteries | 500lb |
| — Steel Case Forklift Batteries | 500lb |
| — Telecom & Absolyte Batteries | 500lb |
| 250lb | |
| — Brass Breakage | 250lb |
| — Brass EDM Wire | 250lb |
| — Brass Shells | 250lb |
| — Brass Turnings | 250lb |
| — Bronze Scrap | 250lb |
| — Irony Brass | 250lb |
| — Plumbing Brass | 250lb |
| — Red Brass | 250lb |
| — Refinery Brass | 250lb |
| — Water Meters | 250lb |
| — Yellow Brass Solids | 250lb |
| 100lb | |
| — #1 Copper | 100lb |
| — #2 Copper | 100lb |
| — Bare Bright Copper | 100lb |
| — Copper Turnings | 100lb |
| — Light Copper / Sheet Copper | 100lb |
| E-Scrap & Compressors | 500lb |
| 500lb | |
| — Aluminum & Dirty Motors | 500lb |
| — Aluminum & Steel Transformers | 500lb |
| — Automotive AC Compressors | 500lb |
| — Automotive Alternators | 500lb |
| — Automotive Starters | 500lb |
| — Copper Electric Motors | 500lb |
| — Copper Transformers | 500lb |
| — Light Ballasts & Power Supplies | 500lb |
| — Scrap Engines & Transmissions | 500lb |
| — Sealed Unit Compressors (Appliance) | 500lb |
| 50lb | |
| — Aluminum Pistons | 50lb |
| — Babbit | 50lb |
| — Cobalt & High Temp Alloys | 50lb |
| — Hastelloy | 50lb |
| — Inconel | 50lb |
| — Magnesium | 50lb |
| — Monel | 50lb |
| — Nickel | 50lb |
| — Pure Tungsten | 50lb |
| — Specialty Copper Alloys | 50lb |
| — Tantalum | 50lb |
| — Tin (Block) | 50lb |
| — Titanium | 50lb |
| — Tool Steel & Stainless | 50lb |
| — Tungsten Carbide | 50lb |
| — Welding Copper | 50lb |
| 250lb | |
| — #1 Insulated Wire | 250lb |
| — #2 Insulated Wire | 250lb |
| — #3 Insulated Wire (Low Grade) | 250lb |
| — Armored Cable (BX) | 250lb |
| — Christmas Lights | 250lb |
| — Coax & Heliax Cable | 250lb |
| — Computer Wire | 250lb |
| — Jelly Wire | 250lb |
| — MCM & Industrial Cable | 250lb |
| — Romex® Wire | 250lb |
| — Telecom & Data Wire | 250lb |
| — THHN Wire | 250lb |
| — Wire Harnesses | 250lb |
| 500lb | |
| — Dirty & Scrap Lead | 500lb |
| — Range Lead | 500lb |
| — Soft Lead (Clean) | 500lb |
| — Wheel Weights (Hard Lead) | 500lb |
| 250lb | |
| — Aluminum Copper Radiators (ACR) | 250lb |
| — Aluminum Radiators (Clean) | 250lb |
| — Coolers & Condensers | 250lb |
| — Copper & Brass Radiators (Clean) | 250lb |
| — Heater Cores | 250lb |
| — Irony Aluminum Copper Radiators (Dirty ACR) | 250lb |
| — Irony Aluminum Radiators | 250lb |
| — Irony Copper & Brass Radiators | 250lb |
| — Pure Copper Radiators | 250lb |
| — Radiator Ends | 250lb |
| 500lb | |
| — 18/8 Stainless Steel | 500lb |
| — 300 Series Stainless Steel | 500lb |
| — 304 Stainless Steel | 500lb |
| — 316 Stainless Steel | 500lb |
| — Stainless Steel Turnings | 500lb |
| 2,000lb | |
| — #1 Prepared Steel (HMS) | 2,000lb |
| — #2 Prepared Steel | 2,000lb |
| — Automotive Cast Iron (Rotors/Drums) | 2,000lb |
| — Cast Iron (Heavy) | 2,000lb |
| — Light Iron & Shredder | 2,000lb |
| — Plate & Structural Steel (P&S) | 2,000lb |
| — Rebar | 2,000lb |
| — Steel Turnings | 2,000lb |
| — Tin (Sheet Metal) | 2,000lb |
| — Unprepared Steel (Torch & Shear) | 2,000lb |
| — Wire Fence | 2,000lb |
| 500lb | |
| — Clean Zinc Die Cast | 500lb |
| — Irony Zinc Die Cast | 500lb |
| — Scrap Carburetors | 500lb |
| — Zinc Solids | 500lb |
Use the table to compare categories and call ahead if you're above those weights with clean material.
Magnet sticks → iron/steel (ferrous)—lower $/lb. No stick → copper, aluminum, brass, stainless (non-ferrous). Pick the right family in the calculator so you're not comparing apples to HMS.
Yards pay the lowest grade in the bucket. Mix bare bright with painted #2 and you'll get #2 on the whole lot. Use separate barrels or totes.
Often yes. Hand-stripped or machine-stripped copper sells as bright; burned wire sells cheap. Cut brass valves off copper pipe; peel plastic off extrusion—small prep steps can move you up a full price column.
Call first: "What do I need to remove off this radiator/pipe so it grades higher?" Use our calculator as a ballpark before you negotiate at the window.
No. Each scrap yard sets its own buy prices. We give a market anchor from aggregated lists. For live numbers near you, search by ZIP or city on the homepage.
It varies by commodity—see the threshold table above. Above those lb marks, yards are more open to volume pricing. Tell the scale you're bringing a big straight load. Yard owners: list your buy prices free.
The map shows regions where we track scrap metal prices from yards. Click your state to see local copper, aluminum, and steel prices. Want nationwide stats? View U.S. price overview →
Schrott